FCI plans alternative route to transport foodgrains to NE

This, after its maiden attempt to use riverine path to move grains failed to take off

After its maiden attempt to use the riverine path to transport foodgrains from the mainland to the Northeast failed, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is now exploring an alternative sea route.

An official said under the new proposal, foodgrains would be transported from the Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh to Ashuganj in Bangladesh through barrages. Subsequently, it would be delivered to northeastern states in trucks.

In June, FCI had planned to transport about 10,000 tonnes of foodgrains from Kolkata to Tripura through the Ashuganj port in Bangladesh, but this didn’t materialise, as some permissions weren’t granted. “We had floated a tender to move the foodgrains. But even after waiting for a few weeks, no one turned up because of logistical reasons. So, now, we have tried a different format,” the official said.

In 2012-13, FCI had transported 41 million tonnes (mt) of foodgrains from producer regions to consumer ones. Of this, about 35 million tonnes was intra-state. While the railways transported 79 per cent of this cargo, the rest was transported through roads.

Currently, foodgrains meant to be distributed through the Public Distribution System in northeastern states are transported from Punjab, Haryana, etc, through the railways. “The trains have to go to Lumding in Assam, after passing all the way up to North Bengal; this is time-consuming and fraught with disruptions,” said a senior FCI official. He added though a train carrying foodgrains from north India typically reached the Northeast in four-six days, sometimes, it took much longer, owing to natural calamities such as floods, landslides, etc, which were common in northeastern states.

“Therefore, we are exploring an alternative route to transport foodgrains; this has become all the more essential because of the National Food Security Act,” he said, adding though the new route might not reduce the time taken to transport foodgrains to the Northeast sharply, it would provide an alternative.

If the cost of transporting foodgrains through riverine routes was higher than through land routes, the entire proposal might be struck down, he said. This time, Bangladesh had agreed to India’s proposal of using its Ashuganj port, but had laid down some conditions to avoid congestion at the port, he added.

In 2012-13, India produced about 198 mt of foodgrains, of which 30-35 per cent was procured by FCI.